• Get Lowered Cycles, a well-known Harley shop in Warminster, PA, has spent the last 16 years helping over 500,000 riders customize bikes to fit their style.
• Two Harleys—a well-documented Low Rider ST El Diablo and its newly completed Road Glide—acted as Get Lowered’s “blank canvases” for these builds.
• Standout modifications for both bikes include Ohlins suspension components, T-Man engine builds, S&S upgrades, and much more.
• The Get Lowered duo marks the first dedicated Powersports display in Turn 14 Distribution’s sprawling lobby.

Whether you’re 10 years old or 75 years old, you know if a Harley-Davidson is within earshot. The quintessentially American boom that comes out of its exhaust screams freedom, and that sentiment only grows once the bikes comes into view. Harley-Davidsons have never been characterized as svelt, nimble, or even handsome; they are brutist, intimidating, and, in many cases, much faster than you’d think. Harley-Davidsons are unapologetic and unrelenting—like the original muscle cars used to be—achieving speed and a boatload of miles using a tried-and-true approach that its fans love.

That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been any progress; the bikes have undeniably taken a huge step forward, but the ethos and personality of each Harley-Davidson is firmly intact. I love that because the “soul” of a bike is unquestionably the most important, and aftermarket upgrades functionally exist to uncover more of it at every step.

Get Lowered Cycles started in 2008 with a mission to do exactly that for Harley-Davidsons. Today, its glowing reputation for helping owners modify their bikes is unquestioned; over 500,000 riders have trusted Get Lowered Cycles to transform dreams into reality. It graciously brought two incredible examples of that work to Turn 14 Distribution so our staff could fawn over them at the start of every day and before going home at night.

1 of 1500

The El Diablo Low Rider ST is a factory special (the red bike for the uninitiated)—only 1,500 of these rolled out of the Harley-Davidson factory. As a result, there are a lot of El Diablo owners who think the original recipe should be left as HD intended. But Get Lowered Cycles had a very strict policy that needed to be followed: “Never settle for stock.”

“The Harley El Diablo Low Rider ST is a bike any rider would love to call their own,” said Mike from Get Lowered Cycles. “Lucky for us, Schaeffer’s Harley-Davidson hooked us up with #1307. After the first rip home, we were [already] looking forward to making some well-deserved upgrades to this bike.”

I confess that when I heard Get Lowered Cycles had chromed out an El Diablo, I was nervous. But as soon as it rolled up to Turn 14 Distribution HQ, I have to admit that I think GLC’s treatment makes the bike look way better; all of the mechanical details pop now and play nicely with the factory paint scheme. Lyndall’s Chrome B-52 wheels and chrome/gold rotors visually tie the chrome in across the bike’s beltline, while Arlen Ness Mini Stocker mirrors and chrome Method levers, and Speed-Kings chrome bend bars add some bling up top.

Now Get Lowered Cycles couldn’t just make the bike look the part without backing it up with some performance parts. A 130″ Pro Street Touring engine kit and 3262 cam from T-Man Performance went in first, followed by an S&S oil pump, cam plate, and chain tensioner. The extra grunt—it’s putting down 148 hp and 151 ft/lb—required GLC to fit a Lyndall chain and sprocket kit with, you guessed it, a chrome EK 530 chain.

Underneath, GLC ditched the stock front/rear suspension in favor of some Ohlins goodies—FKS 508 in the front and HD 506 in the rear—plus some Custom Cycle radial caliper mounts and gold fork tubes.

I probably only touched on half of the mods, but you get the idea: the bike is far from Harley-Davidson’s recipe. Still, I think Get Lowered Cycle’s effort turned a bike that was one of 1500 into a true one-of-one special. That means something. And I can honestly bet that it’s the best-looking and sounding El Diablo out there.

FRESH OFF THE PRESS

I’d been reading up on one of GLC’s other crazy projects—a 2023 Road King that’d been radically transformed. “One of our awesome customers purchased a brand new stock 2023 Harley Road King and asked us if we could turn it into a Performance Turbo Bagger,” Mike from Get Lowered Cycles confessed. Appparently, that Road King pushes out over 200hp in current guise, which is immense.

The bike that you see here builds on that momentum. GLC’s intent for this Road Glide was to go all-out—use the best possible products and pair them to a high horsepower, naturally aspirated engine. The heaviest lift for this build was, indeed, the powerplant. The stock motor was torn down and sent out to T-Man. When it came back, the no-longer-stock engine was fitted with an enormous 143” kit. What used to be a 78hp cruiser was now a 175hp monster. Yes, please. A custom Horsepower Incorporated exhaust system was fitted, too. Whereas the standard system uses 2” piping, this full-length one-off steps up to 2 1/4” to make sure this Road Glide could extract every ounce of that motor’s potential.

An Alloy Art chain conversion kit was a must to cope with the extra grunt, and the Speed Dealer Customs swingarm—anodized gold for good measure—draws your eye towards the critical upgrade.

In contrast to the El Diablo, this Road Glide looks like a stealth fighter jet. BST Twin Tek carbon fiber wheels add to the black-on-black scheme while helping shave weight. A Beringer Aerotec 4D quad-disc brake setup was fitted at the same time. These four 230mm rotors offer slightly more braking surface than a single 320mm rotor, but that’s only part of the benefit. It also reduces the gyroscopic effect, which helps riders confidently attack corners on those tight and twisty roads without the bike wanting to stand up. It’s an important consideration on a bike that can hang with the best of them.

But like the El Diablo, this Harley-Davidson isn’t a one-trick pony; even though its claim to fame is all-out horsepower, the visuals matter. Hofmann carbon fiber fenders and dash paired well with the wheel setup and helped extend the black-on-black theme. Kraus bars, risers, and blacked-out gauge housings tie everything together nicely, too.

In the spirit of handling, this latest GLC project received a KR8 inverted front-end kit. The all-in-one package delivers Ohlins inverted front forks, KR8 triple trees, Kraus radial brake mounts, and KR8 fork guards. Out back, this Road Glide uses the latest Ohlins HD 779 shock. These blacked-out dampers add some notable improvements over the outgoing 044s—better hardware, a more straightforward install, and a metal compression adjuster among others.

TAKE YOUR PICK

The two bikes are very different, and even within Turn 14 Distribution’s walls, it seems the crowd is split. I’d have to take the Road Glide, I think, but my answer might change if you ask me tomorrow. The Road Glide just looks like such a bruiser—comfortable to soak up miles in style, yet incredibly fast once you hit that perfect stretch of open pavement. I’m usually not a big carbon fiber guy, but it adds texture to the monochromatic feel of this bike. Truthfully, it looks as intimidating as I’d be to actually ride it—just like the most beloved 80s or 90s supercar—and I think that bit of theater matters. Chatting with Mike, he’s proud to say that this Road Glide became the no-compromise, all-out performance build he sought to build from the very beginning, and it’s the latest crown jewel in a very impressive portfolio.

Thank you to Get Lowered Cycles for letting us drool over your beautiful creations. We’re honored to be the first stop for your newest Road Glide project and we can’t wait to see what you have in store for 2025.

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